The 2021-22 NHL season is almost upon us. But next year big uniform changes may be coming at the start of the 2022-23 season. The NHL will allow advertisements of sports wagering to be shown on uniform jerseys and helmets. Now, there are some restrictions and regulations that go along with this. For instance, they will only be allowed on the team's home jerseys. Also, they will only be allowed if it is legal to place single-game sports bet in that state- or province. And only one company may be on a uniform at a time. For states or provinces where sports wagering is not legal, teams will still be allowed to have other advertisements on their jerseys; say from Home Depot or Dominos. Will this be a good look for the league? I think it looks tacky with advertisements as it is. These teams have enough money to pay players their high salaries, so do they really need the extra revenue? And if they do need it, then are they really in a position where the city should have a professional hockey team to begin with? It's one thing to have the stadium named after a company, like "Staples Center" or "United Center". We are all used to that by now, although I still think some of the classic stadiums, like Comiskey Park, sound ridiculous as "Guaranteed Rate Field". But regardless of if the advertisements are a good idea or not, opening it up to sports betting advertisements could be opening a can of worms. Baseball banned Pete Rose from the HOF for betting. The whole 8 Men Out 1919 Blacksox scandal went down in history because of betting. So now having betting advertisements on jerseys might be causing more harm than it does good. More people betting on games could lead to some thrown games by either players, coaches, or even refs. But whether it's a good idea or not, either way, the classic look of the hockey sweaters will now be tainted by advertisements, but at least we still have one more year to watch before it gets to that.
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